Doing — する

する is small. It is one of only two irregular verbs in the entire language. You met it briefly back in episode sixteen. But する has a trick that is going to double your verb vocabulary overnight.

What You'll Learn#

New vocabulary: する/します (to do), 勉強 (study), 運動 (exercise), 買い物 (shopping), 散歩 (a walk), 料理 (cooking), 電話 (phone call), 掃除 (cleaning)

Lesson Transcript#

する Is Irregular — Memorize These Four Forms#

する is one of only two irregular verbs in Japanese (the other is 来る, which you will meet later). The stem changes from する to し, which breaks the normal rules. Good news — there are only four forms to remember.

The Noun + する Trick#

Here is the part that makes する one of the most powerful words in the language. You can attach する to almost any action noun and instantly turn it into a verb. No rules to memorize. No extra conjugation. Just say the noun, then say する, and it is a verb.

The word 勉強 (べんきょう) means studying — just a noun. Add する and you get 勉強する, which means to study.

Seven する Verbs You'll Use Every Day#

Here is why this trick is so powerful — the same pattern works with dozens of common nouns. Learn seven verbs in one table:

Seven verbs, zero new conjugation rules. That is the する trick.

Loanwords + する: Sound Current#

Here is a bonus. する is so productive that modern Japanese uses it with borrowed English words too. When Japanese imports a verb from English, it does not bother conjugating it the English way — it just attaches する and keeps going.

Any noun, Japanese or English, plus する, becomes a verb. It is the shortcut that never stops working — and using loanword+する is how you sound like a current speaker instead of a textbook.